“I’m so fucking sorry I blamed you for that, that Ihurtyou for that. We lost a lot of really good people.Family. But it wasn’t your fault. It was all Malcolm. Like you said, he manipulated you. I never should have targeted you just because I couldn’t get my hands on him. I was the one who fucked up. Not you. Okay?”
“I still should’ve known better.” His bottom lip trembles. “I should’ve seen that something was wrong. I should’ve been smarter.”
“Don’t do that. We both know you’re a clever pain in the ass.” I squeeze his hand in mine as he lets out a shaky laugh. “But it must run in the family because Malcolm is smart too. He’s fooled us both.”
“And that’s why we need to make him pay.”
“Like I said before, he has powerful Ascended on his side. If we attack outright, we lose. Malcolm is dangerous.”
Cason grins faintly. “Funny, that’s what he said about you.”
I grin too and let out a quiet growl. “Well, Iamdangerous.”
“So am I now.”
Where Cason’s hand is still pressed against my chest, a shock zaps through me. It’s sharp and fast, not enough to do real damage but enough to make every muscle in my chest tense and my breath hitch. I flinch, and my jaw tightens as the sting fades. I glance down to where his hand is still splayed over my chest, faint residual heat buzzing against my skin.
Letting out a slow breath through my nose, I drag my gaze back to his, narrowing my eyes. “I guess I didn’t fuck the brat out of you after all.”
He smirks, bright and a little wicked. “I don’t know why you thought that was even possible in the first place.”
“Should I try again?”
“Tempting,” he hums, tilting his head. “I suppose we could handle the wholetaking down my evil unclesituation after.”
Right. Reality.
Reluctantly, I say, “Maybe we should do that first.”
He sighs a little dramatically. “Fine. But I already know how.”
“You do?” I ask, arching a brow.
“Of course. We cheat. You’ve been going at him head-on, recruiting, building numbers. It’s good, but it’s slow. And he’s still ahead. So we break him from the inside like he had me do to you. We don’t attack him outright; we go in through a backdoor.”
“I know you have your talents in that department, but to pull something like that off would take—”
“Superhuman abilities.”
His grin comes back, slowly this time. I let go of his hand and shift on the bed to sit a little more upright. He does the same, both of us still facing each other.
“Explain.”
“There’s a second part to what I can do,” he says. “I can seeinside systems and networks and coding. It all just makes sense now. And if I touch it? I can access it. I can travel the pathways.”
Something electric slides down my spine, but this time it’s not from him. “You’re saying…”
“I can get into anything. Not hack like before. This is instant. Physical contact, and I’m in. Firewalls, air-gapped systems, whatever the hell Malcolm thinks is untouchable in those internal servers of his?” His grin grows, and his eyes flicker with something dangerous. “Not anymore. Not to me.”
Now what I saw him doing in his apartment earlier makes more sense.
Silence stretches between us as I consider what this means. Cason could be the weapon we’ve always needed.
Still…
“I’m sorry I brought you into all this.”
He scoots closer and places his hand on my chest again. “I’m not, so you shouldn’t be either. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
